In the bottling industry where glass or plastic bottles are used to package liquids and other flowable matter, it is common practice to seal the bottle neck with a barrier, typically, a metal foil. That seal serves two purposes: First, it serves as a tamper evident feature. The presence of a tear in the seal or the absence of the seal, entirely, alerts the purchaser that the security of the contents has been jeopardized, evidence of the possibility that the contents might have been tampered with. Secondly, the seal isolates the contents of the container from the atmosphere and vice-versa. That prevents atmospheric contamination that may adversely affect the quality of the contents. Conversely, it also prevents escape of volatile ingredients to the atmosphere, which also may lower product quality. In the latter sense, a foil seal also acts as a flavor barrier. As example, flavored toothpaste requires that the toothpaste maintain its freshness over time. By isolating the toothpaste from the atmosphere, the flavoring ingredient cannot escape, thereby increasing the toothpaste's shelf life.
Such foil sealed bottles are also fitted with a closure, typically a cap, that is screwed into place on the neck over the seal. To access the contents following purchase of the bottled product, the cap is first removed; the seal is torn off or punctured; and the desired quantity of the ingredient is dispensed. The cap is then screwed back into place on the bottle so that any remaining content may be safely stored for later use.
Although a screw-on type cap is suitable for such application, the newer class of dispensing closures offers some advantage. For one, a dispensing closure is not ordinarily removed from the container, hence, cannot be dropped on the floor and become contaminated. It can be opened and closed with one hand while holding the bottle, a convenience in some applications. The dispensing closure can be permanently attached to the bottle in any conventional way, such as with an adhesive, bonding material, and, with plastic bottles, by fusion or welding.
Further, a foil sealed beverage bottle containing a standard threaded cap requires one to remove the cap and then tear off the foil before being able to drink the beverage directly from the bottle. In doing so, the thread on the bottle's neck comes into direct contact with the drinker's lips. One often finds that some of the beverage dribbles around the threads on the bottle, and could drip onto and soil the drinker's clothing. As an advantage, such cannot occur with bottles that instead use a cap with a dispensing spout.
If an existing dispensing closure were to be used on such a foil sealed bottle it should necessarily contain an internal screw-thread, permitting the closure to be screwed down onto the bottle's neck, which is accomplished at the bottler. Following the product purchase, the dispensing closure must be removed initially to permit the foil seal to be removed, and then, like the cap, may be screwed back into place on the bottle's neck. It is recognized that the extra steps taken are a slight inconvenience. However slight that inconvenience may be, it detracts from the advantages offered by the dispensing closure.
One successful dispensing closure is described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,968 granted Feb. 28, 1995, entitled Dispensing Closure and Method and an earlier version is also described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,327, granted Apr. 3, 1984, the content of which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The Dark '968 patent shows a closure in which a spout is pivotally connected to the closure base by a living hinge formed in the base. The spout is also connected to an invertible diaphragm system connected to the closure base. The spout may be pivoted between an upright position, opening the closure, and a horizontal position, closing the closure, swiveling and flexing the diaphragm during pivoting. An entry end to the spout, located on the underside of the closure, contains a fluid seal. That seal compresses against a seal wall, when the spout is in the horizontal closed position. An advantage to the construction described in the Dark patent is that the closure may be molded in one piece, avoiding the need to assemble separate pieces to form the closure. Spouted closures incorporating the construction described in the Dark patents have previously been marketed by the Allied Mold and Die Company, of Fontana, Calif.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to invest a dispensing closure structure with the ability to pierce and open a bottle's foil seal automatically upon opening the dispensing closure.
A further object of the invention is to eliminate the inconvenience of removing a dispensing closure from a foil sealed bottle in order to access and open the bottle's foil seal prior to dispensing any ingredients confined in the bottle through the dispensing closure.
A still further object of the invention is to incorporate a cutter within a spouted dispensing closure of the kind illustrated in the aforementioned Dark patents wherein the cutter is able to pierce the barrier seal on the bottle to which the closure is mounted, when the spout is pivoted to the open position.
An additional object of the invention is to inhibit opening of a dispensing closure initially without first requiring the removal of a protective strip present to provide visual evidence that the closure has not previously been opened, a tamper evident feature.
And, an ancillary object of my invention is to provide a tamper evident barrier piercing dispensing closure that is molded from one-piece of plastic material to form a unitary integral assembly.